Despite his diminutive stature, Austin Hudson-Lapore is a giant. Rendered irresistible by his cheerful disposition and winning smile, Austin captivates both teachers and other students with his boundless enthusiasm for learning. In conversation and in class, he wields a tremendous intellect, scintillating with eager curiosity and driven by desire to learn. Truly, Austin navigates the life of the mind with fluid ease and grace.

Austin's eagerness to discuss complicated ideas with any and all comers has, in the past, had mixed results. As a younger student, he sometimes unwittingly intimidated other students and even teachers with his academic boldness. A true student of life, however, Austin has developed a gentler mode of discussion. Now, he waits to hear what others have to say before he comments, taking care to credit the valid points in others' arguments. In sum, Austin's EQ is just as impressive as his lQ. Equally impressive is his stellar grade point average and standardized test scores. Teachers enthusiastically expound on Austin's exceptional qualities:

Austin will go down in Albuquerque Academy history as one of its finest science students. He lives, eats and breathes science. Although his knowledge is vast and he is comfortable sharing it, he never makes a person feel ignorant. (Science Bowl Coach)

Meticulous, careful, brilliant, capable and confident, Austin is unreservedly the best student I have ever taught.Even in the tenth grade, he displayed an extremely rare synthesis of all his learning so the world as he knows it is self-consistent. Austin is thus able to derive just about anything from first principles, and he enjoys the puzzle, the challenge of doing so almost as much as he is rewarded by the understanding he gains in doing so. Even at the college level, I have never encountered his equal in one of my students. (Advanced Placement Chemistry)

During the essay workshop at senior retreat Austin stood out from all the other students in both groups with the care and insight of his comments. He was the only student who chose to read another person's essay out loud in its entirety because he thought it was an excellent example. Even to someone who knows him casually, his facile mind and his deep heart are readily apparent. (College Adviser)In his extracurricular activities, Austin remains a most formidable competitor. A key participant in Science Bowl throughout middle and high school, Austin and his self-selected team have attended the national tournament each year, with excellent results. On our Science Olympiad team, which has gone to the national tournament for the duration of his high school participation, Austin is the kid who can do it all-when one student is unable to cover his event for any reason, Austin steps in and does a bang-up job.During summers, Austin earns spending cash and gives back to the school as a teaching assistant for summer classes, where his enthusiasm for learning and ability to offer alternate explanations greatly enhance the students' experience. On reflection, Austin states: "Being a teaching assistant taught me how to work with, interact with, and teach kids, while also letting me learn when to step back and let other people do all the thinking and learning themselves." Summer school teachers invariably give Austin the highest marks in his evaluations as a TA and request him for the following year.Although he may appear overly bookish at a first glance, Austin has demonstrated compassion and grace to match his intellect. We expect him to continue becoming a social phenomenon as well as an academic one. As much as we will miss his delightful character, his incisive wit, and most of all his unceasing pursuit of knowledge and delight in learning, we are glad to send him on to you, the next step. We are confident that you will find him as amazing as we have, and we envy you the joy of this discovery.